Help Furnish FLOC
The Farm Labor
Organizing Committee (FLOC) is a unique union. They have
negotiated three cornered agreements that involve not only individual farmers
who employ their members but big end users, such as Campbell Soup, who contract
with the farmers. Last year they won an unprecedented contract with growers in
North Carolina, and the Mt Olive Pickle company, that covers guest workers from
Mexico–and FLOC starts representing their rights on the other side of the
border. FLOC has also been a supporter of the Labor Party from day one.

To meet the
needs of its thousands of new members FLOC broke ground for its permanent North
Carolina office at 4354 Hwy 117 South, Dudley, NC, a couple of weeks ago. The
3500 square foot building will not only house eight staffers; it will also
provide needed space for organizing, educational, and training activities as
well.

This model
union is not rich in material resources, however. While cost of the building is
assured funds are needed to furnish this center–desks, chairs, tables, filing
cabinets, computers, printers, etc. They are appealing to organizations and
individuals in the labor and social justice movements for donations large or
small. Send your tax-deductible contribution to:

Dick Again
Were you wondering what ever happened to Dick Gephardt? You remember, the
long-time leader of the Democrats in the House who gave up his safe St Louis
area seat to run for the donkey’s presidential standard bearer. He got wide
labor support–especially from the IAM.

Well, labor’s
friend recently surfaced again–as a consultant for Boeing during the recently
concluded 28-day strike by the IAM. His decades of experience with the union
bureaucracy helped him craft a deal that both sides claimed as a victory. Upon
close inspection, however, it seems only one side had reason to celebrate–and it
wasn’t the Boeing workers.

The company
did pull back some of their more outrageous bargaining chips on health care,
modified their demands on outsourcing, and granted a modest increase in monthly
pension benefits. But, despite healthy Boeing profits--racking in over a billion
the first half of this year--the IAM workers get no general wage increase for
three years.

Typically in
the past Boeing workers have received modest general raises equal to at least
the inflation rate in addition to annual bonuses tied to profitability and
worker earnings. Giving up 2.5 percent annual wage increases not only means less
money for the next three years–it also means lower wages forever. The
compounded loss of 2.5 percent x those three years means a bonanza of hundreds
of millions for Boeing in future wage and bonus payments far beyond the life of
this contract.

Polishing the Big Apple
Of course labor’s old guard leadership doesn’t just support Democrat friends
like Dick. Once in a while they find a nice Republican–such as New York mayor
Michael Bloomberg. After working without a contract for over two years the
city’s teachers union cut a deal with His Honor just in time to support him for
reelection. Unlike Boeing, this agreement does provide 83,000 teachers with
raises over 52 months to a cumulative 14.25 percent increase by the end. Because
much of this will be retroactive for the 28 months since the old agreement
expired teachers will get hefty back pay checks just in time for holiday
shopping–and the election. Still, city teachers lag behind their suburban
counterparts. And there were big time give backs in other areas. Teachers will
be working longer work days, more days per year, and have to take on some
additional non-teaching tasks. Language changes gut grievance and seniority
provisions. It was, after all, the least the UFT/AFT leadership could do for a
friend.

Change Is In the [Hot] AirChange to Win
got supersized from a coalition to a federation last week.
Labourstart’s
Eric Lee, and the dean of labor movement gossip columnists, Jonathan Tasini,
were on hand to give nearly real time Internet commentary about this historic
event. Alas, even these eager beavers couldn’t find much to comment about. Anna
Burger did go into the history books as the first female president of a U.S.
labor federation and Edgar Romney became the first African-American to be a fed
secretary-treasurer. The seven principal officers from the component unions all
made brief remarks–some briefer than others. A constitution was adopted. Unlike
in their former home at the AFL-CIO they didn’t waste any time taking a position
on the war, or any social issues. They were there strictly to organize,
by golly, and pledged 750 million over five years to do a lot of it. They
wrapped up their business in less than two full days.

And Now For Something Completely
Different...
This column is late this week because I was invited to speak at a Midwest
Socialist Educational Conference in Minneapolis this past weekend. I’m glad I
had the opportunity to attend this event, cosponsored by
Socialist Action and
Labor
Standard. It was quite different from typical labor movement
gatherings in a number of ways.

It was a young
assembly, a majority under 25, some still in their teens. Most were from the
Midwest though a number came from Connecticut, New York, Alabama, Arizona,
California, Oregon, and Washington. There were also representatives from Mexico
and Canada. Not a single expense account was drawn on; virtually everybody was
on their own dime, doubling and tripling up in hotel rooms, or sleeping on a
local person’s couch.

The
conference, held in a Minneapolis union hall, opened by remembering the 150th
birthday of Eugene Debs. The agenda was in tune with
his heritage as a militant trade unionist, staunch opponent of war, and a
socialist with a global vision.

Panel
presentations included the environmental crisis, updated with the experiences of
Katrina; the dynamics of the global capitalist economy; the future of the labor
movement; the challenges facing the antiwar movement; workers’ struggles in
Latin America; and examples of the youth radicalization. Those from Canada and
Mexico gave reports on the situation in their countries. Each panel was followed
by lively discussion from the floor. During one lunch break the powerful
documentary film about the 1934 Minneapolis Teamster strikes, Labor’s Turning
Point, was shown. After the conference many went on a tour of sites in the
rich labor history of the Twin Cities.

My
presentation in the future of labor session focused a lot on the two most
promising developments I see–US
Labor Against the War and the
Labor Party.
Of course, one needn’t be a socialist to see the value of these organizations.
Unfortunately, many who call themselves socialists tend to be uninterested, some
even hostile, to these formations. Not this gathering in Minneapolis, however.
They could see the importance of a wing of the unions working to build a mass
movement against the war. And, like Debs, they also understood how a mass Labor
Party, even if not explicitly socialist, would be a giant step forward for the
American working class.

This
conference managed to charge even my aging batteries. I plan to keep in touch
with these folks and look for more like them.